Sound — 8
This pedal has a great sound, although it could be a little heavy for some. I bought this as an upgrade from my previous distortion pedal, because this pedal can produce some sounds I haven't been able to find on other distortion pedals. Unfortunately, it does have a very high output, so there is a lot of excess noise when the pedal is on but you're not playing. I usually play this with a noise reduction pedal at the same time, but if that isn't an option for you then you might find it a little too loud, but for me, it's fine.

Overall Impression — 9
I tend to use this whilst playing heavy rock or metal style, and it fits perfectly. There aren't a lot of other styles that I find distortion fits into particularly well, but I'm sure, with a slight alteration of the controls, this pedal would be able to pull it off. I especially like the deep switch, because it takes the sounds this pedal can make to a level I can't find anywhere else. This is a great pedal which I thoroughly recommend (if you can put up with or find a way around the excess noise) and would probably replace it should I lose it or if it got damaged.

Reliability & Durability — 10
I have used this pedal multiple times for gigs without a backup, and it has never let me down. I've never had any issues with it, and consider it to be very reliable. It has a very solid metal case, and the only thing that could be considered slightly flimsy would be the plastic controls, but as I aid before, I've never had any issues with it. It doesn't even have any visible scratches, which for something you stamp on is quite an achievement. You know when you buy an MXR product that it's going to have solid construction, and this is no exception.

Ease of Use — 10
This pedal is very easy to use. It only has 3 controls, volume, tone and fuzz, which are all pretty self explanatory. It also has a 'deep' button, which is basically a volume / gain boost. It's easy to find a good sound quickly by playing with controls, although you might need to turn the controls further down than on a usual pedal, especially if you have the deep switch turned on! Nothing complicated, and nothing confusing, and it comes with a simple, easy to read manual which you don't really need, but it's there if you want to.